Page 33 of The Seducer
When I walked in to fetch Finn and Hans, Finn sat on the floor surrounded by toys. The sight of the large Nman in the children’s room made me smile a little. His long hair was tied in a bun on his head and his beard was trimmed shorter than yesterday. Seeing him in this setting made it hard to understand why I’d been so afraid of him that first night.
Finn was a gentle giant with Charlotte and Samuel, attentively listening to them as they showed him their toys. A tingling sensation in my belly spread into warmth in my chest. I had felt the same buzzing feeling when Finn and I meditated earlier today. Normally when I did this kind of bonding meditation, I had no problem closing off from all bodily sensations to focus on the energy flow between me and my meditation partner. But with Finn it was like my body was reacting to him in a heightened alertness and every touch, stroke, or smile affected me in this new and mysterious way.
I told myself that it was my highly developed empathy that caused me to always look up when he was looking at me. But that didn’t explain why Finn also raised his eyes every time I was looking at him first. Maybe our five days together in the Northlands had linked us somehow, and maybe that explained why I had felt called to venture into another five days with him.
Despite the unusual situation, I was happier than I had been in a long time. And standing quietly in the doorway, I found pleasure in watching Finn and the children a while longer.
“How high can it go?” Finn asked Samuel and curiously turned a small model drone over in the air, investigating it closely.
Charlotte looked up at me. “Finn says that he never had a toy of his own. Isn’t that sad?”
“As a child,” Finn quickly added with a quick glance at me. “Now as an adult, I have everything I need.” He held up the mini drone. “In fact, I have a toy like this, only it’s much bigger and incredibly fast compared to your drones.”
“Why didn’t you have a toy when you were a child?” I asked.
He shrugged. “The school had toys, but obviously with so many children, it was hard to get your hands on the most popular things.”
Charlotte quietly went over to a shelf, picking up a fist-sized device that was oval-shaped. “I want you to have this,” she said and brought it back to Finn.
He looks stunned as she showed him her favorite toy. “When you press here, it opens up.” Quickly turning off the light, Charlotte demonstrated how the small device would light up the walls and ceiling, creating the illusion of being out in space. “Look, you can zoom in on the part of the Milky Way you want to visit, and it plays really nice music too.”
“No wonder this is your favorite toy,” Finn said, impressed. “But I can’t take this, Charlotte.”
“Maybe you can bring it to the Northlands and give it to a child who doesn’t have his own toy,” Charlotte said with a serious expression. “And if you do, will you tell him that it was me who gave it to you?”
Finn sat up on his knees holding the device between himself and Charlotte. “If you are sure about this, then I will be honored to bring this to the Northlands and tell everyone about your generosity.”
Her small chin lifted and she looked up at me.
“That was very nice of you, Charlotte,” I said and smiled at her.
“You can have one of my toys too,” Samuel chimed in and after rummaging through a box of toys, he pulled out a small unicorn.
“Thank you,” Finn said and looked a bit unsure when he took the multicolored unicorn from the boy.
Charlotte placed her hands on her hips, and scolded her brother. “You never liked that, and the horn is broken off.”
“I know, that’s why I’m giving it to him,” Samuel said without shame.
Finn got up from the floor and tousled the boy’s hair. “I shall cherish your gifts dearly.” Turning to Hans he said, “And I’ll give you the honor of carrying this fine purple horse for me.”
Hans took the toy that was handed to him. “It’s not a horse, it’s a unicorn.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it,” Finn said seriously and walked out of the room. “We don’t have them in the Northlands.”
CHAPTER 10
Tristan
Finn
When I agreed to Athena’s terms of being in her control for five days, I had envisioned them being as boring as the five days we had spent together in the Northlands.
This day, however, was turning out to be interesting and when we walked into the school building, I took it all in: the colorful paintings on the walls, the smells, and the sound of children singing that grew in volume as we walked closer to the source.
I stared when we turned a corner and saw at least fifty students standing up, swaying from side to side, clapping and singing. I was confused by the lyrics until I understood that it was math.
As if that wasn’t strange enough, the students seemed to be of different age and most of them were females.
